Secrets Revealed
by FBGSGDN
Summary: Amu is a 16 year old girl and in high school. She begins to notice her friend Kukai is acting strangely and decides to figure out why. I'm not very good at summarys.
1. Chapter 1

_**AMU'S POV**_

It's been three years since I had broken up with Tadase. He was sad about it but I realized that I didn't like him as much as I thought I did. I used to think he was like a handsome prince, but after dating him for a year I began to see him as the little pansy he was.

Anyway, now I'm 16 years old, and a student at Seiyo High. I'd like to say it was great to be a high school student, but truthfully it gets depressing. What's depressing about it you ask? Well, maybe the schoolwork, the hard pressing teachers, the drama, and I don't know... How about the fact that I'm the only one of my friends who's single! Seriously, Rima finally began going out with Nagihiko, Yaya began dating Kairi, Kukai's still dating Utau, and even the pansy Tadase found a girlfriend. It gets lonely, I know I sound like one of the whiney girls, who complains all the time about not having a boyfriend but I've really been depressed about it lately. I'd like to say that someday Ikuto will comeback for me but I've given up all hope to that. I haven't seen him since he left to go find his father. I guess I'll just have to accept the fact I will be a loner for the rest of my life.

After I finished wallowing in my own self pity I looked at the clock. It read... 7:50! I almost chocked on my own spit when I read the time. School starts at 8:00 am; I was going to be late. I ran down the stairs of my house, almost falling on my face, and ran out the door. This was one of those times that I wished the legal driving age in Japan was 16 rather than 18. But I couldn't think about things like that I had to get to school.

By the time I reached the school the entrance gates were already shut. Yep, I was late, again. I asked the lady running the gate to let me in. She asked for my name, and my class then let me through. I knew she was marking me down late. I just had to hope that this time wasn't my last strike. I changed my shoes and gloomily walked to my class. I opened the door and the teacher looked at me with a stern look.

"Glad you could join us Hinamori-san, take your seat." He said. I sighed sitting in my seat and slumping down to hide my embarrassment of being looked at by everyone in the class.

_**AT LUNCH STILL AMU'S POV**_

I was so glad when the bell rang for lunch. I really didn't understand the class work at all. I headed to the lunchroom to buy my lunch. There I came across Rima and Nagihiko.

"Hey Rima, Hey Nagi." I said running up to them.

"Hello Amu-Chan" Nagi greeted back.

"Amu, Purple-head is being annoying again." Rima stated. I laughed, Rima always pretended to hate Nagihiko, but it was obvious to everyone she loved him. I wish I had that...No, I can't be thinking about these things again. I shook off the feeling. We were soon joined by Yaya, Kairi, and Kukai.

"Amu-Chii! Wanna come and play at the park with me and Kairi after school?" Yaya asked. Amu didn't know if she liked the Idea of there being a couple and then her, but she didn't really have anything to do after school so she accepted the invite.

"Hey can I come too?" Kukai asked.

"Okay!" Yaya replied. I was grateful that Kukai had asked to come. At least now I wouldn't get too lonely; unless of course he invites Utau... But best not think of things like that.

_**KUKAI'S POV**_

Today hadn't been a great day. I was sore all day and every time I thought about how school would end and I'd have to go home, I felt like I was going to be sick. That's right, I hated going home. So when Yuiki-san _(Sorry I actually don't remember what Kukai calls Yaya and everyone else .) _said she was going to the park with Sanjo-san and Hinamori, I couldn't help but ask to go with. I felt relieved when I was told I could go. It was like I was being told I don't have to go through anymore pain. Regretfully know I will but I plan on putting that aside and having a great day at the park. Surprisingly Hinamori also looked pleased that I was coming.

_**AT THE PARK AMU'S POV**_

After school Yaya, Kairi, Kukai, and I went to the park as we had planned. I was glad that Kukai had _not _invited Utau. At first it was still a bit boring because Yaya decided that she had to go tell her story about when she saved a baby bird. It was long and boring. But after she was finished we all decided to get ice cream, which Yaya was delighted to get. She had the biggest ice cream cone of us all, and of course ate only half of it before it began melting down her arm and to her elbow. Kairi helped her get cleaned up, although he didn't look particularly pleased about it. You'd think he'd get used to it, dating her and all. It was pretty much like taking care of a toddler.

Later in the day we all laid down on the grass to watch the sunset. Yaya fell asleep; Kairi said it was past her bedtime. Seriously? He complains about cleaning up her ice cream mess yet doesn't complain about her 7 o'clock bedtime? I sometime wonder about both of them. They're pretty much complete opposites.

As the sun set and the sky darkened, all of us were quiet. We just laid there looking up at the sky. Once the moon was up and stars came out, Kairi began rambling on about the different constellations. I looked over at Kukai, he seemed deep in thought. His eyes looked somewhat sad too. I found myself to be staring at him for quite awhile actually. He was peaceful and yet troubled. I laid there wondering what was going through his mind. I suddenly had a strange feeling go through my gut and my cheeks became warm. I closed my eyes and turned my head away. I must have been getting sick...or was it something else?

After laying there awhile longer I took out my phone to look at the time. I sat up quickly when I saw the time. It was amazing how long we'd been there. It was already 10:00. I was supposed to be home at 10:00.

"I have to go, it's really late." I said getting up and brushing the grass off of my clothes.

"We should be going too." Kairi said as he shook Yaya to wake her up.

"I don't wanna get up." Yaya said stubbornly.

"You have to; I am not physically capable of carrying you." Kairi replied. I laughed inside my head. Yaya was the second lightest person I knew, If Kairi couldn't carry her then he was weak. The only person lighter than Yaya was Rima, and only because of how short she was.

"Well I gatta go, See you guys tomorrow." I looked down at Kukai. "Hey our houses are the same way right? Why don't we walk home together?" I asked. Kukai looked up at me with a blank expression.

"Huh? Oh okay." He said standing up.

"But only if you can keep up!" He smirked and grabbed my wrist. "DASH!" He said before running and dragging me with.

We got about halfway before Kukai stopped running. I was completely out of breath.

"Your _still_ outta shape Hinamori, you need to exercise more!" He laughed. I just nodded; I was too out of breath to speak.

"We'll walk the rest of the way, just for you!" He said, with a thumbs up.

"Isn't your, house closer, than mine?" I asked breathing between words.

"I'll walk you home." He replied. I smiled and we walked the rest of the way to my house. Once we got there I said goodbye, went inside, apologised to my parents for being late, and went to bed.

_**KUKAI'S POV**_

When we got to Hinamori's house I tried to think of things that would make her offer for me to come inside and stay longer. But nothing came to mind. So I foolishly let her go inside. I turned around and put my hands in my pockets. I guess it was time to go home. With any luck, everyone in my house had already gone to bed.

When I got home I knew that I had no luck. All of the lights in the house were on. I took a deep breath and went inside. As usual the smell of alcohol in there was terrible. I thought maybe I could sneak upstairs to my room without being noticed. I was wrong, I was noticed. 'Here it comes' I thought. I closed my eyes listening to the footsteps and yells of the most painful thing in the world, my brother.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AMU'S POV**_

I woke up feeling exhausted after not sleeping very well. I looked at the clock; it was only 7:00. Getting out of bed, I got dressed and ready for school. I had some time so I didn't mean to rush. On my way to school I came across Kukai. He was headed to school as well. I ran up behind him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"BOO!" I shouted laughing. Kukai seemed to cringe in pain. I stepped back as he rubbed his shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you." I said. He turned and looked at me half smiling.

"Nah, you didn't hurt me. I hurt my shoulder in soccer practice." He said grinning.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know." I replied.

"Haha! Don't sweat it! Anyway, since you're here wanna walk to school together?"

"Uh sure..."

"Alright!" He said grabbing my wrist. "DASH!" He began running to school. By the time we got there I was out of breath again. Kukai's 'Dash' was faster than I had run in a long time. He laughed at me again.

"Well, see you later then!" He said running off to class. I stood there awhile trying to catch my breath, after I finished I went to class.

_**AFTER SCHOOL STILL AMU'S POV**_

I was getting ready to walk home when I saw Kukai leaning against the school gate. He looked very spaced out.

"Hey!" I said walking up to him. I think I surprised him because he flinched when I spoke; I obviously knocked him out of deep thought.

"Oh, hey Hinamori." He said standing up straight, his voice sounding different than usual.

"Are you okay? You seem kind of out of it." I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Wanna go hang out in town?" He asked, his voice sounded more normal when he asked that.

"Sure!" I replied. We walked to town talking about random things. I was so glad he didn't make me 'Dash' again. I still felt tired from that morning.

When we got to town it became very hot outside. It was good to have some nice weather. We passed by a fountain, It was so hot that I almost wanted to jump in the fountain, of course I didn't. That would make me look foolish. Just when I looked away from the fountain I felt a splash of water on my back. I squealed at the shock of cold and quickly turned around. Kukai was laughing he had splashed me. I was furious, so naturally I splashed him back. I didn't want to get the tip of my sleeve wet so I rolled it up and swung my hand through the fountain aiming at Kukai. But I missed, I had bad aim. He rolled up his sleeves and splashed me again. Now I was wet and he was completely dry. This made me determined to get him. I splashed over and over until finally hit. I laughed at him just as he had laughed at me and when he went to splash me for a third time, I ran. I ran to an open field far away from the fountain. He walked over laughing.

"I got you!" He said still laughing.

"Well I got you too." I said, proudly.

"I got you more." He said smirking. He was taunting me but I wasn't going to give in to it. I noticed now that his sleeves were rolled up that he had a large bruise that seemed to go upward on his arm towards his shoulder. Was that the soccer injury he was talking about? It was huge! I walked over to him wide eyed, looking at his arm. When I got closer to him I took his arm in my hand to look closer.

"Kukai! This is huge! How could you get that from soccer?" I asked amazed. He pulled his arm away from me and rolled down his sleeve.

"I just did." He replied gruffly. I looked at him worriedly. It was hard to believe because soccer isn't really a contact sport.

"Don't worry about it." He said looking away from me.

"O-okay, So... What do you want to do now?" I asked. He got his grin back on his face.

"Well we're too wet to go in any stores or anything." He seemed to be thinking about it.

"We could go to my place?" I offered. He smiled.

"Sounds good!" He said. "DASH!" He yelled grabbing my wrist and pretty much dragging me behind him to my house. When we got there I was even more out of breath. We went inside and took off our shoes.

"I'm going to get changed." I said running upstairs.

_**KUKAI'S POV**_

I looked around the down stairs of Hinamori's house. It didn't seem like anyone else was home. I made my way into the living room and sat down on the couch. I rolled up my sleeve to look at the bruise. I knew that she didn't believe me I had gotten it from soccer. _I _probably wouldn't believe me either. But I couldn't tell her how I really got it. I didn't want her to worry. She was the last person I wanted to worry. But I would probably be best to keep my sleeves rolled down from now on. These bruises and what not were the reason I hadn't seen Utau in awhile. Utau would try and pry into it even more, and I couldn't have her worrying either.

I heard Hinamori coming down the stairs and quickly rolled down my sleeve. She came down in a short skirt, it was...hot. I shook my head and closed my eyes tightly. What was I about to thinking? Hinamori was a good friend of mine but that was it.

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked.

"Sure!" I replied. I got up and walked into the kitchen where she was getting drinks. Her house was so clean and peaceful, nothing like mine at all. It smelled like air freshener and didn't have bottles all over the floor. I liked it.

I ended up hanging out at Hinamori's for most of the day. When her parents came home her father cried and was going on about her having a guy over. It was really strange. But it seemed to embarrass Hinamori. It was actually rather cute to see her face go completely red in embarrassment. I began to think about it; actually she was really cute most of the time. I shook my head again. What was I thinking? I looked at her, a strange feeling in my gut appeared but I didn't really know what it was.

Once it got dark her mother said it was probably best I go home before it's too late. 'Damn' I thought. I had been hoping that I could stay longer. I knew nobody was asleep at home at this time. I felt sick at the thought of going home. I guess her mother noticed this sick look on my face because she seemed to change her mind.

"Souma-san, would you rather stay the night? You could stay on the couch." Hinamori's mother asked. I felt so much better when I heard those words and gladly accepted.

That night as I lay on their couch, Hinamori upstairs, I was peaceful. I closed my eyes knowing this was going to be the best sleep I had in a long time.


	3. Chapter 3

_**AMU'S POV**_

The sound of my alarm clock woke me from a nice deep sleep. I switched it off looking at the time, quarter to 7:00. Why in the world had I set it so early? I rolled over to go back to sleep when it finally hit me, the reason I had set it early. Kukai was sleeping in my living room. Why had my mother offered for him to stay the night? I've had quite enough of guys sleeping in my house after Ikuto stayed in my room. I crawled out of bed and quickly got ready for the day. I wandered down stairs and peeked into the living room. Kukai was still asleep. He looked so peaceful. His eyelids closed looked soft in the dim light of dawn and his breathing was deep and relaxed, all the muscles in his face and body were totally at peace, not a twitch, not a spasm, barely any movement besides his chest rising and falling with each intake of air.

I knelt down beside the couch; I looked at him for a minute or two, no, I wasn't staring, I swear, or at least I don't think I was. Soon I remembered Kukai's 'soccer' injury. It really didn't look like an injury you could get from soccer and Kukai got some weird look on his face when I asked about it. I wanted to see the bruise again and look at just how bad it really was. I tried to roll up his sleeve carefully; I thought I was succeeding at not waking him.

_**KUKAI'S POV**_

I opened my eyes to see Hinamori...Why? She didn't seem to notice I was awake. She was too focussed on trying to look at my arm.

"Watching me sleep?" I asked startling her.

"Huh? Uh, No!" She replied jerking away from my arm. I laughed; her protesting proved she had been watching me. I sat up stretching, my shoulder and arm were stiff and sore but that was also a sign they were beginning to heal.

"I wasn't watching you; I just came to wake you up for school!"She continued.

"Sure..." I replied smiling. I got up and ready. We headed off to school, at my pace.

"Ready Hinamori?"

"Huh? For what?" I grabbed her wrist grinning.

"DASH!" I said as I began to run to school.

_**AFTERSCHOOL AMU'S POV**_

Afterschool I went outside behind the school. It was doubtful Kukai or anyone else would come around this area. I thought that maybe Utau might know why Kukai had been acting like this. So I decided to call her. After the phone rang a few times she finally answered.

"What do you want Amu?" She answered; I guess she had my number saved on her phone so when I called my name was displayed.

"Hey Utau! I have a question."

"What?"

"It's about Kukai."

"Kukai? I haven't talked to him in awhile. He is ignoring my calls, it's annoying."

"He isn't?"

"Not for the past couple of weeks... So what's your question?"

"Ifyou haven't talked to him in awhile you might not know the answer."

"Ask." Utau demanded.

"Well, he's been acting kind of weird this week, and he has this huge bruise on his arm that he claims is from soccer, but its huge Utau, if you saw it you wouldn't believe him. Do you know what's going on with him?" I asked, but after Utau was very quiet, I couldn't even hear her breathing.

"Utau?"

"I don't know." Suddenly she hung up. I stared at the phone before hanging up. That was kind of rude to not even say good bye. Maybe something came up or she lost service, either way it was still weird.

Next I thought that perhaps one of Kukai's friends might know, like Tadase or Nagihiko. If anybody knew about sports injuries it was going to be Nagihiko.

_**UTAU'S POV**_

It was happening again, and that idiot thought he could try and hide it from me again. It hadn't worked the first time so why would it work now? Now I knew the exact reason he hadn't been answering my calls, and if he wouldn't then I was going to have to visit him myself.

I had my limo come and give me a ride to his house. I told the driver to speed and get there as fast as possible. Once at Kukai's house I asked the driver to honk the horn. I stepped out and stood by the vehicle. It wasn't long before I saw Kukai looking out from his bedroom window. I could tell by his face that it was true.

_**KUKAI'S POV**_

Staying at Hinamori's for the night and not coming home proved to have bad results. I was sitting in my room with an Icepack on my now black eye and bleeding eyebrow, which truthfully wasn't that bad. It was my stomach that really hurt.

I heard a horn outside and a lump grew in my throat. I stood up and looked out the window lowering my icepack. I was filled with dread when I saw Utau, and I knew the look on her face. For some reason I couldn't hide things from her, she always found out. I bet she hires people to investigate me. I almost wanted to close the blinds and ignore the fact she was outside, but that would probably be a bad idea. So I snuck out of my room, down the stairs and outside.

"Get in the car." Utau demanded, holding the door to her fancy limo open. I complied only because I knew she wouldn't take no for an answer. Getting in after me she slammed the door shut. She waved at the driver and we drove off. She stared at my eye closely and intensely, assumedly to make sure it wasn't too badly hurt.

"Take off your shirt." She said.

"What?" I was slightly taken aback.

"I want to see your arm. So take it off."

"How did you...?"

"I got a call from Amu."

"From Hinamori?" I asked taking my shirt off.

"Yes she...Oh my god Kukai! That's not just your arm it's your whole shoulder!" She stopped talking and after staring at that bruise her eyes travelled down to a much smaller and brand new bruise on the side on my stomach.

"I thought this had stopped."She said looking me in the eyes.

"It did...For awhile."

"Kukai I'll do what I can to stop this."

"Don't bother, it's nothing important anyway."

"It's not nothing!"

"It's not any of your business! Just stay out of it Utau! I can deal with my own problem!" I snapped.

"Kukai," She said leaning over and hugging me gently. I didn't want her to be involved in all this. I didn't want her to get hurt, and I hated how she was always so persistent. Once she stopped hugging me I put my shirt back on.

"Want to go into town? Get some Ramen, and maybe you can tell me why this is happening again?" Utau asked.

"No, I don't." I replied gruffly, I waved for her limo driver to stop and then quickly got out.

"Kukai!" Utau yelled poking her head out.

"Utau, just go back to your own life and don't bother me. You'll probably be better off with somebody else anyway." I said turning briefly then continued to walk away.


	4. Chapter 4

_**AMU'S POV**_

I flopped down on my bed, sighing heavily. I'd just gotten off the phone with Nagi. He'd told me that small injuries often turn into large bruises. I don't think he understood just how big of a bruise I was talking about. It was practically his whole arm! From below his elbow and probably up to his shoulder! Feeling hopeless, I sat up and stared at my phone. Maybe giving Kukai a call and asking again wouldn't be such a bad idea?

I was just about to dial his number when my phone began to ring.

"Hello?" I answered it, finding out quickly that it was Utau. "Amu, we need to talk. Now. Meet me at the park. She demanded and hung up. What could Utau possibly want? Did it have something to do with Kukai? And that bruise? Had Utau spoken with Kukai and figured out what it was from? If so, why couldn't Utau just tell me over the phone? Shrugging, I head to the park.

When I arrived at the park, Utau was waiting for me with a cross look on her face.

"Hey Utau!" I waved, running over to her.

"Explain yourself," She demanded.

"What?"

"How did you find out about that bruise?"

"Huh? I saw it... why?"

"How and when did you see it?

"I saw it the other day, when Kukai and I were in town. We were splashing water from the fountain and he didn't want to get his sleeves wet so he rolled them up. I tried to get a closer look at it when he stayed the night at my house because it was late and my mother offered for him to stay..." Utau frowned and crossed her arms.

"Stay away from Kukai, Amu." Everything is your fault. So just stay away!" She yelled before stomping off to her fancy car and speeding away. I stared in confusion, not sure of what had just happened. My fault? What was my fault?

_**UTAU'S POV**_

It was completely clear now. I understood why Kukai had left me like that, why he was being distant, and why he wouldn't share his problems with me. It was Amu's fault. While Kukai was ignoring my calls, he was off having a splash war with Amu! While i was leaving him hundreds of voice mails worriedly and missing him, he was spending the night at Amu's house! I'll bet he even stayed in her bedroom! She doesn't know anything about Kukai! Him spending the night at Amu's most likely fueled the violence of Kukai's brother. Amu just makes it worse for him. She doesn't know him, not like I do...

_**NAGIHIKO'S POV**_

A huge bruise reaching from the elbow all the way up to the shoulder? It sounded exaggerated, but Amu-chan seemed fairly worried about it. If the bruise was really as big as she described, it was unlikely to be something like a soccer injury. Sure, it was possible to get bumped or take a heavy fall in soccer, which often cause's some big bruises… but what bothered me most about Soma's so-called 'recent' soccer injury, was that 'recently' soma had been taking a break from soccer. In fact, he'd only participated once this season. I was there that day he played, and he went injury free. So it was impossible for the bruise to have come from soccer. Soma's not known to tell lies… Ever.

Is it possible… that Hotori might have some kind of idea?

_**AMU'S POV – NEXT DAY**_

Kukai was absent from school. It made me worry. Something must've happened between him and Utau. Even Nagi seemed uneasy, even though he was the one who told me not to worry and that it was nothing. I guessed Nagi had told Rima something too because she kept looking at me weird. I guess it didn't surprise me that Nagi would mention what I said to Rima… They were a couple after all... must be nice… I shook the thought out of my head. Dreaming about couples is not what I should be doing when I was so worried about Kukai. I felt like I had to do something, things couldn't be left the way they were.

I sat on a bench just outside of the school, opened my phone, and dialed Kukai's number. It rang a few times before stopping, it didn't even get to voicemail, and it just stopped. He'd hung up my call? Why? Was he angry with me like Utau was? I didn't even know what I'd done… 

_**NAGIHIKO'S POV – THAT EVENING**_

"Why are we going to Kukai's house?" Hotori asked while walking down the sidewalk.  
>"Do you remember last year when Soma dropped out of soccer and seemed different than usual?" I asked. About a year ago Soma quit sports, seemed spaced out, and often had unusual injuries. Amu-chan never noticed before, and I could never exactly figure out what was going on, I had a few good guesses but couldn't prove them. Hotori however knew everything, although he'd never tell...<p>

Hotori frowned and stopped walking.

"I do remember. Why do you ask?"

"Amu-chan asked me something strange the other day about Soma, and it made me think of it. It made me realize that now it similar to back then... Soma is 'taking a break' from sports and wasn't at school today."

Hotori stared at me with a grim look before turning and continuing towards Soma's house, but now, his pace was much faster.

_**TADADSE'S POV**_

I remember very clearly. Only Utau and I knew the whole truth; the truth of Kukai's home life, and family. Although, I had thought the problems had been resolved and everything back to normal... clearly I was mistaken.

It all started over a year ago, a fatal accident occurred while Kukai's parents were away on vacation. His parents were involved in a crash, there were no survivors. It had been kept really quiet around here and not very many people heard about it. Kukai didn't tell anybody but Utau and I. It was really hard on Kukai and his four brothers, particularly the eldest, Kaido. Overnight he became responsible for his whole family. Kaido used to be a friendly tease. He and Kukai would play-fight and Kaido would pick on Kukai as an older brother usually does. It was the typical brother relationship. But after the accident he became aggressive and violent through stress. Play-fighting turned into real beating, laughter turned into yelling, Kaido took up alcohol, and his old self vanished. Kukai, being the youngest, was his victim most of the time, although the other three were treated similarly. At that time only Kaido, the second, and third eldest were over 18. But Shusui and Unkai, the second and third eldest, didn't do anything about it. They couldn't even afford to move out. Kukai's family never was very rich, and with their money split up between the brothers, they all had to pitch in for their house and for food.

Kukai always came to school with cuts and bruises, some large, some small. He'd try to hide it and when anybody asked the excuse was always sports related. 'I got bumped in soccer.' Or 'I tripped in basketball.' Is what he'd say. But Kukai quit soccer, basketball, and every other sports activity he participated in. Kukai never told anybody what was going on. He didn't hate his brother, he didn't even dislike him. It was quite the opposite actually. After all, they did grow up happily together. Kukai was awfully good at acting happy and at first seemed normal. Everybody seemed to either believe Kukai's sports injury stories or just leave the matter alone altogether. Kukai refused to talk about it, and one day he suddenly quit soccer and sports saying he wanted to take a break from it all. He stopped answering Utau's calls and would avoid her as much as possible. Kukai's normal out-going self became reclusive. I'm surprised Amu-chan noticed something wrong this time, when last time she was completely oblivious to the whole thing. Then again... maybe this time isn't like last time... maybe nothing is actually wrong.

"What exactly did Amu-chan say that made you worry?" I asked Fujisaki-san as we approached Kukai's house.

"She told me of a bruise Soma has that is apparently takes up his whole arm. He told her it was from soccer, which I'd believe if Soma was actually playing soccer this year." He replied. I take it back. This is exactly like before. Even though it had ended... It began again.

Fujisaki-san and I walked up to the front door and knocked. I guessed Kukai might not exactly be happy to see us.

_**KUKAI'S POV**_

If I ignore the knocking, it will go away! ...Or at least that's what I hoped. I don't know who is at the door, but it's not being answered. If the door's for my parents, they are out of luck because I don't have any. If it's for Shusui, Unkai, or Rento they are still out of luck because they spend a lot of time away from home with friends. If it was for Kaido, then either he's too drunk to answer the door, or he's not home. I don't know which. And lastly, if it's for me... I don't want to talk to them. I'd rather lay on my floor and stay perfectly still.

Knocking, knocking, knocking... They just don't give up.

I rolled onto my side and stared at my bedroom door. Did I dare go down stairs? Did I dare to discover what Kaido was doing down there? I sighed and somehow pulled myself to my feet, it hurt to stand. Creeping downstairs slowly, I realized Kaido wasn't home after all. Unfortunately the knocking hadn't stopped either, so I had to answer the door.

Tadase and Nagi... I slammed the door closed again. Why them? Of all people to knock on the front door, it had to be them? They even had those 'concerned' type of expressions.

"We're coming in!" they called out as they opened the door on me. I backed up and watched as Tadase looked over me. So, who told him? Utau? Probably...

"We have something to ask you." He stated as Nagi shut the door behind them. I suppose if I had to choose two people to tell, these two were the best choice. Well... Nagi's sometimes hard to talk to... he was a girl for half the time I knew him, so you might understand why talking to him like a normal guy might be difficult. I nodded and led them upstairs into my room, the cleanest room of the house.

"So, what do you want to ask?" I asked once we were upstairs. Honestly I didn't think I wanted to know but they'd ask anyway.

"Well, Amu-chan gave me a call," Nagi began. Great... so it was Amu. She was worried... which meant she noticed something wrong... I guess it was my fault; I let my guard down around her too much. But I just couldn't help it.

"Kukai, its happening again isn't it?" Tadase stated bluntly, interrupting Nagi. Nagi looked confused slightly. Obviously Tadase hadn't told him anything. My eyes seemed to wander everywhere but Tadase, I avoided looking at him.

"It is right?" Tadase continued. I half nodded, leaning onto the desk in my room.

"Why?" He asked.

"My brother lost his job... and his girlfriend dumped him," I mumbled still not looking at either Tadase or Nagi.

"That's it? That's why?"

"I guess so..."

"Wait. What is going on?" Nagi interrupted in confusion. Tadase looked at me with that kind of expression that mentally asked permission to explain. I noticed it out of the corner of my eye and nodded. I listened as Tadase basically summarized my life, it made me agitated. When he finished we were all silent.

"I had no idea," Nagi mumbled breaking the silence. "We have to do something about this," He continued.

"No. You don't." I snapped back irritably. "Don't say or do anything. It's my problem, not yours!" I continued, incidentally raising my voice. I don't know where my anger came from. I knew they were trying to help me. But their help is not needed. Nobody said anything more after that, we didn't even look at each other.

It wasn't long before we heard the front door downstairs slam.

"You guys should go." I mumbled. They nodded and I followed them out of my room. As I had thought, Kaido was home. He glared at Tadase and Nagi as the two quietly left. It was quiet for a moment as I watched out the window to see them walk away down the street hesitantly, looking back at my house every so often. Soon they were out of sight. I turned my attention to Kaido. You could almost see the anger rising off of him.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. I closed my eyes and wished my friends had not come to visit me.


End file.
